What's the secret behind the infamous 'Backrooms' creepypasta?

Question

DISCLAIMER: I did not create this creepypasta, nor do I claim it to be true.

I'm not quite sure if this is the right place to ask about creepypastas, but there isn't a specific site on the SE network for them, so I decided to ask about it here. Feel free to cast migration votes if there is a better alternative.

So yeah, the Backrooms.

You've probably heard of it-- (and maybe even believed it as a child) but if you haven't, here's the origin of the story from an old 4chan user:

"If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the Backrooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in... God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you"

Like every other creepypasta out there, I know that none of this is actually real. However, one thing in particular rubbed me the wrong way--

I had had a dream a few years ago that perfectly matches the description of the Backrooms-- this was before I even knew the story existed...

Now I know I might sound stupid asking this... but is there any truth behind this? Is this a real phenomena? If so, what is it?

Feel free to ask me about elaborate anything further.

Answer 1

It is indeed 4chan, per Know Your Meme:

On April 21st, 2018, an anonymouse 4chan user posted the image in the /x/ forum in a thread about cursed images (shown below).

On May 12th, 2019, an anonymous 4chan user started a thread in the site's paranormal board /x/ inviting users to post pictures of "disquieting images" that just feel "off." The user posted a picture of a yellow room at an off-center angle (shown below). A user replied with a narrative about the picture....

On May 14th, another thread combining the picture and the comment appeared on /x/. Two days later, the post appeared on /r/greentext[3] under the caption "Worse than any creepypasta out there," gaining over 32,000 points....

And so forth. (Given the dates I don't see how anyone reading this in 2021 could have read or believed it to be true 'as a child'.)

A quick search shows there's nothing unusual about dreaming of new or previously unknown rooms in a familiar place, or an expanse of strange rooms (I've had both myself), so it's likely no more than a coincidence.

There is a structural similarity to your standard portal fantasy, but the details are unmistakably Information Age, from the late 20th Century office setting to 'noclipping' (the portal) through walls.